AP Fact Check: Trump oversells wall as a solution to drugs

A man passes a Mexican migrant baby to her mother after they jump the border fence to get to the U.S. side to San Diego, from Tijuana, Mexico, Dec. 29, 2018. | Associated Press file photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza, St. George News

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his prime-time speech to the nation, President Donald Trump wrongly accused Democrats of refusing to pay for border security and ignored the reality of how illicit drugs come into the country as he pitched his wall as a solution to trafficking.

A look at his Oval Office remarks Tuesday night:

Trump: “Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border.”

The Facts: A wall can’t do much about that when drug trafficking is concentrated at land ports of entry, not remote stretches of the border.

The Drug Enforcement Administration says “only a small percentage” of heroin seized by U.S. authorities comes across on territory between ports of entry. The same is true of drugs generally.

In a November report, the agency said the most common trafficking technique by transnational criminal organizations is to hide drugs in passenger vehicles or tractor-trailers as they drive into the U.S. though entry ports, where they are stopped and subject to inspection. They also employ buses, cargo trains and tunnels, the report says, citing other smuggling methods that also would not be choked off by a border wall.

Trump recently denied that traffickers use entry ports at the southern border, contradicting the evidence and assertions of his drug enforcement personnel.

Trump stretched credulity even more by comparing the wall money he wants from Congress to the cost of the entire drug problem in the U.S.: “The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year, vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress.”

Trump: “Democrats will not fund border security.”

The Facts: That’s not true. They just won’t fund it the way he wants.

They have refused his demand for $5.7 billion to build part of a steel wall across the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats passed legislation the day they took control of the House that offered $1.3 billion for border security, including physical barriers and technology along the U.S. southern border.

Senate Democrats have approved similar funding year after year.

Democrats have also supported broader fence-building as part of deals that also had a path to legal status for millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.

In 2013, Senate Democrats voted for a failed immigration bill that provided roughly $46 billion for a number of border security measures — including new fencing – but that legislation would have created a pathway to citizenship for some of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

The 2013 Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act had money to double the number of miles of fencing, to 700 miles, as well as for more border patrol agents. It also had a mandatory employment verification system to ensure all U.S. employees are authorized to work in the country. In exchange, however, the bill allowed immigrants living in the country illegally to apply for a provisional legal status if they paid a $500 fine and had no felony convictions.

As well many Democrats voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which has resulted in the construction of about 650 miles of border barrier. But that legislation didn’t authorize the kind of wall Trump has long been advocating since he launched his campaign.

Trump: “The wall will also be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico.”

The Facts: Mexico is not paying for the wall despite what Trump promised during the 2016 campaign, and nothing in the trade agreement would cover or refund the construction cost.

Trump is assuming a wide variety of economic benefits will come from the agreement, but they can’t be quantified or counted on. For example, he has said the deal will dissuade some U.S. companies from moving operations to Mexico and he credits that possibility as a payment by Mexico for his wall.

The deal updates the North American Free Trade Agreement, in the main preserving NAFTA’s liberalized environment of low or no tariffs among the U.S., Mexico and Canada, while making certain improvements for each country. Trump stated inaccurately that it’s “brand new. It’s totally different.”
Moreover, it’s not in effect. The deal has yet to be ratified in any member country and its chances of winning legislative approval are not assured.

Written by CALVIN WOODWARD and JILL COLVIN, Associated Press.

Associated Press writers Hope Yen in Washington and Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

61 Comments

What facts?
Prove they are facts ice or are you just a mirror for the 24hr news
Dig it up and show us the documents that the AP won’t if it won’t interrupt with your video game.
We are waiting…..
Ya Right …. FACTS….
EMS

The simple fact is that republican(and democrat) elitist business owners benefit tremendously from the cheap labor of illegal aliens. These business owners contribute massive amounts of money to political campaigns. You can drive around our dear city of st george and find many many crews made up almost entirely of illegal aliens constructing buildings all over town. These crews of illegals aren’t the least bit worried of being deported and do their work right out in the open. Essentially Utah, just like CA, is a sanctuary state. The problem is systemic. The political class is the problem. The illegals are here to stay, more will continue to flood in, the swamp will not be drained, and donald trump will continue to fail at governing in every way.

And yes, Mexicans traffic drugs over the southern border–massive amounts of drugs. Where there are buyers for drugs, drugs will find there way in. Fentanyl from China makes it’s way into the US from all over the place–mexico, canada, some of it is mailed directly into the US from ‘China Post’. Millions of packages and shipments come to the US from China everyday, and only a tiny fraction of drugs are discovered by customs inspectors–it’s the same story with border patrol inspecting vehicles from mexico. The drug trafficking problems are not likely to be impacted much, if at all, from the dear donald’s fence/wall.

Everything donald does just seems to be for show–a clown circus. He fails at governing and fails at leadership.

Americans are the most heavily propagandized people on the planet and they love it, they seek it out daily. Their TVs are on whenever they are home, they are glued to their smartphones, and they repeat the media sound bites the next day.

The people will believe what the media tells them they believe.
–G. Orwell

Hey bike, I think and most sensible people believe, its up to the NEWS ORG to prove they are right. Don’t see that anymore (Walter Cronkite), and with talking heads on the lose on the internet news threads, regurgitating the 24hr news cycle they don’t think it is necessary either.
Put up or shut up is what my parents taught me. They also used the “children should be seen and not heard” thing a lot too.
Just sayin…
Crawl out of the basement , your parents will be proud. Go over to ice’s house, ya I know, that’s the sun, it will be OK.
Build a campfire and sing cumbia together in the evening, but you defiantly need to turn off the TV and get outside and talk to people with a different point of view. Turn off the TV first though

An AP story? The AP is every bit as left as the Amazon Post, or the NYT, and puts out their “get Trump” propaganda every day. The US media (mostly Democrat propagandists) has spent two years screaming about Trump, and little else.

Why do the Democrats fight so hard for foreign criminals over American citizens? Can any Dem voter explain?

I’m a dem voter and I don’t believe the Repubs are capable of not being corrupt to the core. They are simply worse than the dems. All we can do anymore is pick a lesser evil. Repubs wouldn’t even be discussing the invasion if it weren’t for dear donald. And I don’t believe donald is at all serious about ridding us of the invaders. He simply has used the invasion as a political propaganda tool. Americans are tired of illegal invaders so it resonates well. But I don’t believe any political elitists, including dear donald, have any intent of ridding us of the invaders.

The dems have become traitorous filth in the way they coddle invaders and label all minorities as victims of white man’s oppression. I don’t know how they got so out of touch with reality. The repubs just continue with their usual self-serving corruption and pay lip service to issues like illegal aliens, but they don’t intend to do anything about it. “Build a wall” sounds real good to the masses of dumbed-down sheep, but it’s likely to cost an enormous amount and be almost totally ineffective.

The core tenets and corrupt ways of the R-party have not changed since the reign of Baby Bush II, where more illegals flooded in than at any other time in history. Anyone who believes the R-party wants rid us of invaders is naive, deluded, or just stupid.

You trumpers keep on believing in your savior donald. Maybe some day you’ll catch on. But by then it’ll be too late. Sheep will be sheep. oh well…

@Fester
Sell your story to the agri-industries in Cali and AZ who rely on both legal and illegal immigrants to keep themselves afloat. And that’s not the only places you’ll find them. They are everywhere and probably work harder than you’d ever dream of.
Your false accusations of immigrants being “foreign criminals” is laughable right-wing fear tactics and propaganda at their finest. Completely void of truth.

Fester this VERY typical of bottom dwellers not answering the question.
Your question was
“Why do the Democrats fight so hard for foreign criminals over American citizens? Can any Dem voter explain?”
and look at the responses…. nothing to your question!
Any Questions?

“Why do the Democrats fight so hard for foreign criminals over American citizens? Can any Dem voter explain?”

For about the exact same reasons the republicans have done nothing about the invasion for the last 30+ years, or the reason the republicans oversaw most of the US’s industrial production being sent over to China. It comes down to cheap labor for an elitist class to exploit. The only wild card here is the donald. A person who is not really a typical republican neo-con, or “rino” as many of you say.

So a question back at some of you nutters: “Why have the republicans fought so hard for foreign criminals over American citizens until only very recently a guy named donald finally brought the issue to the forefront of political discussion? Can any Repub voter explain?”

The AP, CBS, and CNN have all reported fake news on a variety of topics over the years, so they have already discredited their self as being trustworthy. If they are not trustworthy, their news can and should automatically be labeled as fake news. If it’s fake, it’s fake!

Right on Redbud but it goes along way back, that’s how we got to this point.
and to comment’s post
” I like how trump handles the MSM fake journalist scumbags. He’s quite skilled at making them look like the clowns that they are.”
Comment, they aren’t even in the same world as the rest of the country and the POTUS . Unicorns and fairy tales comes to mind.

“In 2013, Senate Democrats voted for a failed immigration bill that provided roughly $46 billion for a number of border security measures — including new fencing – but that legislation would have created a pathway to citizenship for some of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally”……Not going to give these 11 Million illegals ( real number is 22 Million ) Amnesty, so enjoy the shutdown however long it takes……The Wall will be built

Cher? Really? That’s your desperate angle now?
How about the fact that little Donnie listens to fascist trash like Coulter and Hannity?
I guess that’s okay with you seeing as you WANT fascism in America. Pathetic be thy name.

Trump started this and should stop it now. He forgets hes no longer a New York wise guy but the president. He knows nothing else but to use leverage over thodse who cant speak for themselves. Federal workers, his workers, rely on him to keep this government running, not use them as leverage for his ego. Its his responsibility for the shutdown, the Trump shutdown, over a wall that doesnt stop drugs, is too expensive for what it does, and Mexico was to pay for. He conned us and we’re getting exactly what we voted for

“When during the campaign I would say Mexico is going to pay for [the wall], obviously I never said this, and I never meant they’re going to write out a check. I said they’re going to pay for it. They are. They are paying with the incredible deal we made called the USMCA.”

Except, his campaign said almost exactly what he denies in April 2016:

““It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion continues to flow into their country year after year,”.

He lied to the American people to sell us the idea of the wall. He’s (ie his administration) lied about the facts to justify the wall. And now he’s lying about his own, well-documented, campaign rhetoric.